THE Tory MP who had an affair while his wife was battling breast cancer last night insisted he had followed House of Commons rules 'to the letter'.
James Gray said the affair had been cleared by the parliamentary authorities and that he had receipts for all the hotels where he and his mistress had sex while his wife was in hospital.
He added: "You know what it's about? Jealousy. I have got a very, very large mistress. Some people say she looks a bit like Balmoral."
The Wiltshire North MP and his lover were married last weekend in a ceremony described by local activists as a very expensive way to resign.
The marital cheating rules, approved by the House of Commons in 1997, state that MPs are allowed to be unfaithful as long as the wife is unlikely to die within 48 hours.
The regulations also set out a John Lewis-style list of 'cheatable wife ailments' including most cancers, heart conditions, brain diseases and certain types of paralysis.
But an MP must also wait at least 48 hours after the wife dies before marrying the bouncy, large breasted woman who is up for absolutely anything.
Tory backbencher Sir Denys Finch-Hatton defended the system, adding: "If, for example, one's wife is paralysed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair, how can one be expected to get one's end away?
"It seems only fair that when a hard-working MP with a seriously ill or disabled wife is in London he should be able to spend the night in a reasonably comfortable secretary."
